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The disease salmonellosis: symptoms, signs and treatment

Salmonellosis – an acute intestinal infection that affects both children and adults. The disease is characterized by the development of intoxication and the presence of foci of inflammation in the digestive system. Pathology is easily transmitted from person to person, which often becomes the cause of epidemics. The first symptoms of salmonellosis should be a signal for treatment to the nearest hospital for thorough diagnosis and treatment drugs. Therapy conducted at the initial stage of an infectious disease, promotes faster recovery and allows to avoid dangerous consequences.

Pathogenic Salmonella

The diagnosis "salmonellosis" is the person in the body which is penetrated and began to breed Salmonella. The disease is a whole group of intestinal infections. For convenience of treatment experts identify several forms of the inflammatory process depending on the localization of pathogens and severity of disease.

Salmonella – rod-shaped bacteria, sometimes forming part of conditionally pathogenic microflora. To date, scientists have discovered and classified approximately 1600 species of causative agent of intestinal infections, each of which can bring significant harm to the human body and even cause death.

Once inside the gastrointestinal tract, the causative agent of salmonellosis in the majority of cases will cause acute inflammatory process. This is possible because of the characteristic features of the pathogen. Signs of Salmonella:

  • with flagella, the bacterium can move throughout the gastrointestinal tract;
  • the causative agent of salmonellosis is capable of firmly attaching to the mucosa of the digestive system;
  • the pathogen multiplies rapidly, forming extensive colonies;
  • the bacterium penetrates through the intercellular membrane, causing inflammation of the inner layers of the fabric.

The outer shell of the causative agent of salmonellosis is very durable, and that becomes the cause of the spread of infectious agents. Bacterium does not die even after its uptake by the macrophage. Moreover, it begins to multiply in cells, which are produced by the body for its destruction. After a short time infectious pathogenic strains in the blood stream migrate to adjacent areas of tissue.

After the surveys, data were obtained about the presence of Salmonella in the carcasses of slaughtered cattle and swine livestock. More than 25% of poultry are carriers of bacteria, and half a duck infected with a pathogenic microorganism.

Salmonella is almost not killed by prolonged freezing and remain viable when heated to 100 °C. Only when long boiling destroys the shell of the microbe. In the absence of a nutrient medium Salmonella retains the ability to reproduce within 3-3.5 months.

The bacterium is resistant to UV radiation, harmful for most microorganisms. In dry feces of cows, pigs, cats or dogs, Salmonella can be more than four years. Vinegar or salt do not have her any harm, so are diagnosed each year, many cases of salmonellosis by eating pickled or salted mushrooms and vegetables. To get rid of rod-shaped bacteria is possible only with a systematic treatment of the room with disinfectants.

Features of the course of salmonellosis

Safely overcome protective biological barriers of the body in the form of saliva and the acrid gastric juice, Salmonella gets into the small intestine. It is firmly attached on the surface of epithelial cells and starts to produce exotoxins, which can be summarized as follows:

  • thermolabile;
  • thermostable.

In areas, contamination of Salmonella, begin to break down or modified microvilli. In response to the penetration of foreign proteins, the immune system produces macrophages and T-lymphocytes for the destruction of Salmonella. But the outer layer of bacteria so dense that once inside the macrophages, they contribute to the death of these white blood cells. This destruction of a significant part of leukocytes aggravates inflammation, provoking complications of salmonellosis.

In the process of life Salmonella secrete a variety of toxic compounds. They quickly get inside the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, which may cause extensive toxicity and symptoms of poisoning: hyperthermia, fever, chills.

The spread of toxins contributes to the development of dehydration is extremely dangerous for human life state. The body tries to get rid of the causative agent of salmonellosis: the victim opens vomiting and diarrhea. But along with the fluid output of biologically active substances and mineral compounds necessary for the functioning of all vital systems:

  • appears hypertension and arrhythmia;
  • swollen brain tissue;
  • renal damaged structural elements, particularly the canaliculi.

With the progression of intestinal infection to the highest load are exposed to the kidneys. Muchincreases the volume of filtered blood and urine. Because of the shortage of body fluids, the concentration of urine increases, therefore, the pelvis and the tubules of the kidneys begin to deposited salt.

The daily amount of urine when salmonellosis is declining in three and more times, in severe cases, emptying of the bladder does not occur at all. The accumulation in the bloodstream, the protein products of the metabolism and acidosis is the inability of the kidneys to properly carry out the urination. When carrying out biochemical analyses and histological examination found degenerative changes in the mucosa of the small intestine. Especially noticeable when salmonellosis hemorrhage from blood vessels and swelling of tissues.

How do you get Salmonella

The main source of salmonellosis are cows, horses, pigs, poultry. They have intestinal infection causes no symptoms, it often happens that animals are only carriers of pathogenic microorganisms. Cattle highlights of Salmonella throughout your life with every emptying of the bowel or bladder. Infection with bacteria occurs from workers of agricultural land:

  • in the process of animal care;
  • when slaughtering, butchering;
  • at the stage of packaging and processed foods.

Violation of sanitary standards on poultry farms leads to the spread of epidemics, the cause of which is the consumption of eggs infected with rod-shaped bacterium. After getting on the shell, Salmonella is able to penetrate the yolk in no time.

If the inside of the gastrointestinal tract got Salmonella, the person may not get sick and become bacteria carriers. It all depends on health and the body's resistance to viral and bacterial infections.

Transmission of Salmonella from person to person occurs by the fecal-oral route: through unwashed after using the toilet hands. You can get acute infectious disease, touching the handrails in the car or the basket in the store. Close the group (kindergarten, hospital) pathogen is spread out over several days. The pathologies diagnosed in people who care for bedridden patients and do not observe the rules of hygiene.

Salmonellosis is becoming an epidemic in the warmer time of the year. A significant number of victims are infected after the ingestion of food not subjected to heat treatment or during storage in improper conditions. Particularly active the causative agent of salmonellosis propagated:

  • in dairy products;
  • eggs and products made of them;
  • in fish and seafood.

In the hot season should try not to eat food that is not subjected to boiling: sushi, pastries with protein or butter cream, fruit and vegetable salads. A few years ago there were cases of poisoning ice cream. When checking it was found that in the manufacture has been violated stage of the process – the milk was not properly pasteurized.

You can get salmonellosis, just a dip in the pond with stagnant water. Usually in ponds and lakes like to nest birds, most of which are carriers of enteric infections.

Experts klassificeret factors of transmission of salmonellosis as follows:

  • Fecal-oral. If an employee of the grocery store or cafe employee is infected, then the probability that it will soon catch the visitor of these outlets.
  • Water. The use of raw water is often the cause of infection a significant number of people.
  • Household. The causative agent of salmonellosis transmitted from person to person by shaking hands or using objects of personal hygiene of bacillicarriers.
  • Air-dust. Infection occurs by inhalation of air containing particles of faeces rod-shaped bacterium.

Prevention of salmonellosis is to eat foods that have undergone heat treatment and personal hygiene in adults and children. Salmonella is extremely dangerous for newborns. Once infected, they develop the most severe form of intestinal infection – generalized. The child quickly develops severe intoxication of the organism, which is often the cause of severe complications.

Symptoms of salmonellosis

The first signs of salmonellosis may appear in person in a few hours (when used in a contamination of microorganisms products) or few days (at household transmission of bacteria). The severity of symptoms is directly dependent on the immunity and age of the victim, the presence of acute or chronic illnesses, the subtype of the causative agent of intestinal infection.

It is impossible to predict what will happen after penetration into the gastrointestinal tract of Salmonella. Some people are resistant to pathogenic microorganism, therefore they will not have any negative signs of intoxication.

Before the treatment of salmonellosis gastroenterologists and toxicologists conduct a thorough diagnosis of the victim, because there are several forms of possible development of infectious process.

Gastroenteritis formsalmonellosis

Most of the diagnosed cases of salmonellosis related to this form of the inflammatory process. Symptoms begin to appear a few hours after infection. This form is characterized by a combination of symptoms of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract and General intoxication:

  • fever, fever, chills, cold sweat;
  • headache;
  • aches throughout the body;
  • tremor of the upper and lower extremities;
  • decrease in tactile, tendon and muscle reflexes;
  • nausea and vomiting.

In an hour the clinical picture of Salmonella is compounded by diarrhea, sometimes found in the stool of mucus and fresh blood. Character of stool: frothy, watery texture, changed color from brown to greenish. Human skin become pale and dry mucous membranes. A common symptom of salmonellosis is gastroenteritis cyanosis of the nasolabial folds. It is noted in the abdomen rumbling in the victim a feeling of fullness and bloating. The person on the background of lower blood pressure of growing weakness, lethargy, drowsiness. Also increases the heart rate, causing tachycardia, increased heart rate.

Gastroenterokoliticheskaya form of salmonellosis

The clinical picture of this form is similar to the symptoms of salmonellosis gastroenteritis. Two days later, decreases the volume of feces, they contain clumps of mucus and blood. When probing the stomach diagnosed increased tone of a thick intestine, and the victim having painful spasms. The temperature may rise several times during the day.

When trying to perform the act of defecation in humans, pain, sometimes the urge to evacuate bowels come about. Activated Salmonella provokes symptoms similar to the symptoms of the acute stage of dysentery. In this condition, the person needs immediate hospitalization and treatment drugs.

Gastrotechnika form of salmonellosis

This form of development of salmonellosis is less common than the previous two. The beginning of acute inflammatory process, characterized by constant nausea, vomiting, painful spasms in the epigastric region. Syndrome extensive intoxication expressed little, the victim has not observed the intestinal disorders. The forecast for a quick and full recovery in most cases positive.

The severity gastritises salmonellosis varies depending on the signs of General intoxication and fluid volume and mineral compounds isolated from urine. Because of the acute lack of biological substances decreases the functional activity of all vital systems.

During the acute stage of salmonellosis in humans, there are clinical manifestations of:

  • chills;
  • complete lack of appetite;
  • lethargy, weakness, fatigue;
  • headache, localized in the temples and the nape.

As a rule, the temperature does not exceed 37.5 °C that is characteristic for relapses of chronic pathologies. Symptoms is complicated by the decrease in daily volume of urine, its concentration by increasing the concentration of metabolic products and salts of uric acid. A complication of intestinal infection in this case could be blood poisoning.

Lipoptena form of salmonellosis

The symptoms of this form of salmonellosis resemble the clinical picture of acute gastroenteritis. This disease is characterized by the formation of infectious foci on the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines under the influence of pathogenic microorganisms. Salmonellosis is manifested by the following symptoms:

  • fever;
  • the disruption of the digestive system: vomiting, frothy stool, pain in the epigastric region;
  • dizziness, drowsiness, weakness.

During the day the victim several times to happen temperature jumps up to 40 °C, accompanied by profuse sweating, chills, cold sweat. The disease is aggravated by the emergence of insomnia and emotional instability. In the diagnosis of the person found redness on the chest and abdomen. The skin of the victim is pale and dry, and nasolabial folds become pale blue.

A few days have increases the liver and spleen, pain in the right upper quadrant. Sharply reduced the renal and blood pressure, impaired function of the cardiovascular system (bradycardia). In severe salmonellosis occurs tremor of the upper and lower extremities decrease tactile, tendon and muscle reflexes.

Septic form of salmonellosis

Infectious diseases are especially dangerous in septic forms of the disease. In addition to the clinical picture of acute gastroenteritis in the affected there are symptoms of salmonellosis:

  • raising the temperature to the subfebrile indexes;
  • fever, abundant Department of sweat;
  • muscle pain;
  • tachycardia;
  • clouding of consciousness;
  • chills;
  • dryness of the mucous membranes.

Due to violations of metabolic processes decreases the functional activity of the liver cells. Even at rest of a man plagued by pain inthe joints, while increasing motor activity can cause convulsions.

This form of salmonellosis is characterized by the formation of purulent foci in the kidney, the liver, the structural elements of the lungs. In addition to intestinal infection, the victim is diagnosed with pneumonia and inflammation of the heart muscle.

Particularly susceptible to colonization by pathogenic microorganisms departments of the urinary system. With blood flow bacteria are transferred to the calyx, pelvis and tubules, where they begin to actively proliferate. Hard to find in the classification of kidney pathology disease, which is not developed with a septic form of salmonellosis. In addition to intestinal infection, doctors perform the treatment of the following pathologies:

  • glomerulonephritis;
  • pyelonephritis;
  • hemorrhagic cystitis;
  • kidney failure;
  • urolithiasis;
  • the salt diathesis.

This form of salmonellosis is on the backdrop of a sharp decline in urination until their complete absence. The victim appear cramps and burning at every evacuation of the bladder. The characteristic features of disorders of the urinary system include dull pain in the lumbar region and lower abdomen.

Bacteriocarrier of salmonellosis

Chronic salmonellosis in humans, or bacteriocarrier asymptomatic. Salmonella become part of conditionally pathogenic microflora of the intestine, do not cause any negative symptoms of infection. There are following forms of bacteria:

  • acute – develops after suffering salmonellosis;
  • chronic – can be diagnosed in a person, the body of which is Salmonella found within three months;
  • transient – the results of biochemical tests do not always show the presence of rod-shaped bacteria.

For the Salmonella bacteria carriers of pathogens do not pose any danger and is not aktiviziruyutsya with a sharp decline of immunity after acute viral or bacterial infections. But for family members and colleagues, there is a risk of infection, as Salmonella for several months excreted in the feces. The chronic form of disease is diagnosed by chance when conducting research of the biological sample to detect other diseases.

Diagnosis of intestinal infection

To determine Salmonella is quite difficult, requires differential diagnosis. Symptoms of intestinal pathology can trigger other microorganisms: Shigella, staphylococci, and protozoa. Signs of extensive intoxication caused by bacteria and is similar to clinical presentation of salmonellosis appear in person after penetration into the gastrointestinal tract of poisons of plant and animal origin, heavy metals, caustic alkalis and acids. In addition, similar symptoms appear with such pathologies:

  • ectopic pregnancy;
  • appendicitis;
  • recurrence of gallstones;
  • renal colic;
  • myocardial infarction.

Patient laboratory testing of stool, blood, urine, vomit. It is also necessary to establish what has become a source of human infection. Measures for the prevention of salmonellosis among relatives, and identify possible sick or bacillicarriers.

The characteristic symptom of intestinal infection is persistent or paroxysmal pain mostly around the navel, in the epigastrium and the ileocecal region (the so-called Salmonella triangle). Informative diagnostic method is detection of antibody titers. The final diagnosis is established only after the identification of the kind of pathogen.

Treatment of salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a bacterial disease, so therapy begins with the application of antimicrobials. Salmonella does not possess the sensitivity to most antibiotics, so not always their use is appropriate. The treatment regimen is determined based on the results of examination of patients. For uncomplicated salmonellosis therapy can be carried out at home. In all other cases, the victim is subject to immediate hospitalization for treatment in a hospital.

The duration of stay in hospital of a person with diagnosed salmonellosis does not exceed 14 days. If after symptoms of intestinal infection in humans in the feces is still found rod-shaped bacteria, he goes home with the condition of regular use of drugs and undergoing laboratory tests.

In addition to antimicrobial drugs in the treatment are used:

  • chelators, and adsorbents;
  • saline solutions for oral or parenteral administration;
  • antispasmodics and painkillers;
  • enzyme drug;
  • antacids when necessary;
  • detoxification drugs;
  • fluoroquinolones.

To enhance the body's resistance to intestinal infections the patient was recommended a course of reception of Immunostimulants and immunomodulators, vitamins and minerals. If the Salmonella caused the complications, the therapy of the victimof damaged organs.

First aid for the man who has vomited and has a fever is gastric lavage with potassium permanganate solution and call the ambulance. To identify at home salmonellosis impossible – in some cases, even laboratory tests do not last less than a week. Treatment of salmonellosis folk remedies always ends with the death of a person. Roots and herbs do not affect Salmonella no effect. Until man accepts the decoctions and infusions, his body successfully reproduce pathogenic bacteria.

All about Salmonella known only by experienced doctors-infectionists. Intestinal pathology is a deadly danger to humans, so treat it must be experts. If you have symptoms of any poisoning should contact the nearest hospital facility.